ironic that i am posting about owls and fireflies in the same day - no relation to the song, really.

I have an aversion to bugs. It's not that I hate them, but 1) I don't want them in my house and 2) I don't want them on me. I have no problem letting them live at peace in their outdoor world, I can't hate nature when it's in nature but the thought of a june bug hitting me in the face on my porch or a mosquito perching on my knee in the backyard has me swatting the air like an idiot.

So, the fact that I have an obsession with lightning bugs is a bit strange.

I liked them as a kid but not like I do now. It all started on our honeymoon and it's still the coolest memory I think I have in my little head. (Although, having a candle lit dinner on a pier in the DR watching a wedding party let off 15-20 Khoom Fay (paper floating lanterns) from the beach and watching them float over our heads was pretty cool too.)

We road tripped to Pennsylvania for our honeymoon to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. We had left the Sunday morning after our wedding, drove all day and as we were starting to get tired, and close to our first overnight stop, we had both grown rather quiet. We had done a lot of talking throughout the day and since it was dark and the music was playing, it was good enough to both just be in the car together. I was looking out of my window as we were flying by the tree lined highway at 80 miles an hour and realized I was looking at more lightning bugs than I had ever seen in my life. There were so many of them and they were flashing so frequently in front of and inside the trees that it made for the coolest moment. I quickly made Paul take his eyes off the road and look at them and although he thought it was rather cool too, I knew I was having one of my moments that I couldn't explain to him. One of those, this moment right here, in this car with my new husband, listnening to this song while watching these thousands of bugs was going to be forever burned into my brain. And I liked it.

oh i'm such a hoot

So a week ago or so (that's a fun sentence starter), LGN posted this photo from Lonny

and she raved about the rug. My first thought was, "what rug?! there's a huge white owl sitting on the island and you're excited about some oriental rug?!". that owl is exciting.

Then, Burke Decor had a giveaway through her blog giving away this owl.

It was like only the second internet contest I've ever entered. I didn't win, wah wah, but still love the thing. I wouldn't use it for umbrellas though. I don't know what I'd use it for.

But I seriously like me some white ceramic owl action.

Thoughts for today:

At 11:27 am the women in my office building all decide it’s time to run to the restroom. I hate waiting for a stall when I know there’s a bathroom on every floor, so I meandered to other floors to find I would have to wait in every one of them. That just took me back to my floor and my original restroom where I waited out the now longer line. Note to self: pee at 11:25.

I am tired. Yesterday, I slept through Paul waking up, taking a shower, getting dressed, having breakfast and apparently leaving for church. I woke up 20 minutes after he had left and lay in bed for another 30 before I crawled out of the room, only for a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch. I could have done the same this morning if I knew I couldn't get fired for doing it. I was going to work through lunch, but I may go home and take a nap instead.

Catalog Living is funny. Read it.

I want to do this.

And this.

I need this upcoming three day holiday weekend like no one would believe. And the fact that I have to wait two months before I have another day off of work is a bit unnerving. I'm not used to this not traveling all the time and taking three day weekends thing. I can't figure out how people do it.

If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance. ~Bern Williams

I haven't forgotten you exist blogger. I've just been busy. Really busy.

Last night Paul came into the living room bringing with him my new favorite around the house shorts, threw them at me and told me to come out front with him. Yes, I was half dressed. It was ten o'clock and I can do that.

So I pulled them on and headed out to the porch with the boy.

It was ten at night and still a sticky 84 degrees outside. We stood in the darkness on the porch for a second when I was just about to ask, "ok...so what are we doing?," when lightning flashed all over the sky to the north above the houses we were facing. All of a sudden the sky was full of clouds I hadn't been able to see just moments before. It was awesome. The lightning was fairly consistent so we both popped down on the porch stairs and watched it for awhile enjoying nighttime summer.

I started to pray in my head for the same thing I've been praying about for weeks, a request of sorts. I am sure God at this point is thinking "yea woman, I heard you the other 900 times you prayed for this - chill out". But before I got to the request in my head last night, the lightning hit again and I thought, how awesome is everything around us. The whole world all of a sudden was just mind boggling to me and I told God how awesome he was and left it at that.

We sat there for a little while longer talking until I started yawning (and shuddering from the idea that June Bugs would be flying around if the light was on). It was affirming, not just the amazing world around us part, but that Paul and I could sit, on OUR porch, and talk at ten at night, like grownups, because we're really not. Ha, if only.

Post Script:

I love me some Photoshop action:

The fact that I can make things like that, from nothing but a blank screen and some images of fabric that I like astounds me.

I've got to make sure my boss knows just how important it is to stay on my computer. Otherwise, I'd be up a creek when it came to personal stuff!  

four years ago today:

I got married.

To this guy:

Hello wonderful.

We went on a honeymoon, we traveled a lot, we hung out with friends and family, I graduated college, we both got new jobs, we worked on our house and remodeled our kitchen and spent many weekends and evenings just enjoying our time together. I wouldn't have done half of it without him, he's been such a blessing to have in my life. Here's to many more years of gallivanting around together.  

it's raining, it's pouring

This past weekend, we did a lot. I mean A LOT.

I got a haircut, we did our weekly grocery shopping, Paul did some volunteering, we watched a very important soccer game, we volunteered/attended an after party at the art museum, met my parents to check out their fancy new wheels, went to church and even caught a mini Flaming Lips concert.

We did not however build a moat or an ark.

Both would have been quite helpful yesterday.

Oklahoma City received a tumultuous down pour that woke us up early yesterday morning and didn’t stop until the late morning. Paul was up having his morning coffee when he noticed one of our cats staring at the floor vent. She was intent. Paul got a little closer and noticed he could hear something that sounded like water so he popped his head down into the basement to have a look see and boy oh boy was there water.

He came upstairs, put on some socks and boots and got my butt out of the bed to help him. I figured an inch or two of water in the “unfinished” basement couldn’t be that bad but I’d oblige and help him move some things around. I took one step down the stairs and saw Paul, mid-shin deep in water. There might have been an expletive escaping my mouth on those stairs.

He started hoisting boxes and tubs of things up to me which I stacked in nice neat piles on the back porch. I couldn’t get over how much water was literally pouring into the space. He grabbed the laundry that was in the dryer (already getting wet) and we headed back upstairs to watch the disaster happen. Or I did. Paul grabbed on his rain jacket and went outside (still POURING mind you) and spent the next two hours directing the gathering water away from our house with brick and sand dams he built, a trench between our house and the neighbor (whose basement was already waist deep in water) and he cleared out the tiny amount of gutters on the side of our house. The water stopped pouring in through the walls. What a rockstar. We were at that point, two feet underwater downstairs, but it wasn’t coming in anymore and we had to be positive and thankful about something.

We decided to brave the rain and the flooding (stupid idea) and get out in order to get a new hose for our pump at Home Depot. It was amazing how many roads had already been closed and how many cars were just stranded in the middle of roads. We made it to Home Depot and back (with a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit in hand) and after one more trip by Paul, got all the water pumped out of the basement and out into the street. I could see the pavement! Never mind the fact that it is filthy muddy and there is something wrong with our A/C, cable and our washer and dryer were half under water for awhile.

I spent the afternoon at home monitoring the water level and giving Paul updates every half hour or so while baking some fresh bread and marinating dinner. I’d love to only work four days a week and bake bread and cook on the other days. That is, as long as there aren’t any more natural disasters happening!

momma lovin'

A few nights ago, Paul and I were talking during the commercials of one of our favorite shows and somehow we got on the subject of people who want better for their kids than what they had or grew up with.

We both sat there for a second when I said, "I don't want better for our kids than what we had. We both had really great lives growing up (and we still do) with great parents and I want to strive to provide an equal experience for our kids and if it is better than what we had, lucky them."

Today I got this email from my mom:

We get emails, cards and phone calls all the time from our parents that say things like this.

That's what I want for our kids and I hate that there are people out there that don't have that already themselves but I'm glad they want to give it to their kids too.

summer

I think I've mentioned previously how much I do not like summer and if I have not, I am now. I especially don't like it now that I am an adult. There is no break from school to enjoy or vacations to go on (we much prefer fall/winter/spring travel). The only thing summer has going for it, in my opinion, is that it is nine o'clock before it gets close to being dark out and there is a prolific number of snow cone stands that crop up.

However, I haven't been hating on the summer as much this year as I typically do. Granted, it's only June11th and we have a long way to go here in Oklahoma City before the fall arrives, but right now, I can handle it. And believe it or not, I've only had two snow cones.

I'm very intrigued by summer entertaining right now which makes me wonder if the prospect of doing so is helping me stem off the hate.

Entertaining, like I like to do, takes a lot of effort though. Not that I am complaining, I just don't seem to have the people to invite to parties like these all the time.

These photos (found at Hostess of course) make me want to break out some mason jars, mix up some lemonade in our glass pitcher and cover my patio table in flowers with candles hanging from the trees. I've also been obsessing over 4th of July celebrating. We're not even going to be in town, rather at my parent's house, but I want to throw a party. My brother's birthday is on the 5th and every year for quite some time we threw him a party with the classic white sheet cake covered in strawberries and blueberries making a flag. I want to throw his birthday party this year (although I doubt he's even in town), and for old times sake, have his flag birthday cake.

I'd have lanterns, flags, galvanized tubs full of drinks and flowers to show off some serious patriotic style. I like the whole New England summer cottage covered in flags, its quite quanit and charming and it's exactly what I'd be going for.   

Who is throwing summer parties this year? Because I want to attend them.

My mom always said "If you don't have anything nice to say, then shut it."

I'm not about to say anything nice. I just need an outlet to vent today.

I want to write about my office so badly it causes a creative block for other things. Knowing the story of Dooce and how well her getting fired from her job worked out for her after she wrote about her co-workers and her job is comforting however; I don’t seem to quite grasp the concept of making a living blogging every day. I just don’t have the internet following, nor do I think I ever will.
I need to write a book or maybe a screenplay about the people I work with. And maybe publish it under a pen name. You’d read it. It would be funny and then I’d be rich.

Today has been one of those days at the office. Can you tell?

In related blogging topics, I don’t understand how it is that a newlywed couple created a blog, started charging people $250 to look at two or three photos, draw a shoddy, unscaled, wavy lined sketch of a floorplan and use Photoshop to copy and paste the same furniture pieces and artwork (from Target and Crate and Barrel) over and over again. Do you know how well I could do YHL mood boards and floorplans and in probably less the time and with a to-scale floorplan that doesn’t look like my cat drew it?

I’m just bitter. The two of them stay home with a newborn and blog and make mood boards for people all over the US because they have good taste when they remodel their own home.

I went to school for it and am working an eight to five job (design job yes, but come on) with no one knocking down my door to do an internet color board for them. Jealous. I’m just jealous.

I’d stay at home and do mood boards and floorplans for people for $250.00 a pop. And they’d be good.

So there.

NOTE: This is one of those posts that I should have saved for a few days. After cooling down, I should have come back to read it and then laugh at myself and delete it. But I'm too into it right now to not just send it out there, envy and all.

Get the Duck to do it.

Miracle of miracles.

Duct tape gets rid of warts. Gross I know.

I got a wart in high school (I think) on my pointer finger on my left hand, right at the bottom of my nail. It was so small for so long and didn't hurt so I left it alone.

I can't believe I'm writing about this.

Well it got bigger over the past few years and I decided it sucked.

Over Memorial Day weekend I decided it was time to get rid of the thing. I'd asked Paul's uncle, the Doc, about a year ago if it would hurt if I had him remove it and he told me quite frankly that yea it probably would.

I chickened out at that moment and it wasn't until this past weekend I decided to get over it and just take care of it. But then my mom told me that my cousins had been instructed to put duct tape on theirs and that they disappeared. I was a skeptic.

Plus, I didn't want to have to wear duct tape to work every day. So, I bought this stuff:

Nothing like some turquoise duct tape to keep your spirits up in the summer months. I've only been covering it up since Monday, and it's already almost gone. I can't believe it and I can't believe that it doesn't hurt at all.

So tuck that tiny piece of knowledge away for some random party chat.

what chou talkin' bout willis?

How exiciting is it that it's already Tuesday?! I have nothing to write about right now. I should but can't seem to get into the mood to think. For the first time in a few weeks, I have something that needs to be done at work that is incredibly brain stimulating, so that's exciting and I don't feel like wasting that brain power on a post I'm only half into anyways.

But, I will write about our weekend briefly. It was such a great memorial day weekend. It actually felt like a three day weekend and I was glad we got to spend it with part of our family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, old friends, etc).

This past weekend:
- we watched my cousin Marlee graduate from high school
- we ate smores by the lake as we tried to convince a three year old to "drop it like its hot"
- I ate breakfast by the lake with my mom while the boys played golf
- I finished "Salt"
- I bought a new watch
- we played Bananagrams until our brains felt like mush
- we talked on the back porch with only the christmas lights and candles until we were too tired to talk
- we went to church
- Marlee, Maryn and I drove around in golf carts keeping score for the boys as they played another round of golf
- we had pizza and hun-cal (yes Lauren, that was for you) fro-yo for dinner
- I bought turqouise duck tape in hopes of getting rid of a wart
- we watched some NCIS because really, we're addicted
- my dad, Paul and I went to the driving range and they taught me how to play golf (i'm pretty excited about it)
- we had lunch with the parental unit and we we're off
- and we finished the evening with a little Harry Potter, oh, and Taco Bueno of course

Hope you had a great weekend!

Oh, and the title has nothing to do with Coleman's death, rather it's something the three year old that was visiting for the weekend said to my cousin Marcus and we got a kick out of it. Oh and since celebrity deaths happen in threes, Nugget, on the radio this morning, predicted Betty White was next. Oh the shame.